New to RA

[Guest guest]

Hi, I'm Deborah,

Can anyone tell me what kind of medicaton they are on? See I was

dignosed with Perpheral Neruopathy, but now they tell me it's not most

likely it's RA. I've been taking meds for Neruopathy for over 9 months

now and I need to come down off them slowly. I was wondering if meds

for RA are like the meds for PN? Hopeing they didn't make things worst

for me.

[Guest guest]

Dear Deborah- Nothing you have taken for PN will interfere with your new RA meds regime. In fact alot of the time, Neurontin is one of the meds Drs use to help with pain and Fibromyalgia. If you have other questions, try www.arthritisfoundation.org for more info. Email me off list with any other questions. Hugs, Deborah in ME

On 8/23/06, Harold Van Tuyl <hvantuyl@...> wrote:

Hi Deborah and welcome to the group. I'm 78 years old and except for RA I'm pretty healthy. My doctor started me on Arava and after about 4 months without a lot of progress he added Methotrexate and I took myself off Arava. Then after about 4 more months with little progress he added Remicade at 3 mg/kg and we gradually increased that to 6 mg/kg. We were about ready to try something else when I began to feel better. Since then I've been doing quite well and in fact we are reducing my medications to see if I am overmedicated. I know nothing about PN or it's medications so I can't help you with that. God bless.

From:

Rheumatoid Arthritis [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ] On Behalf Of myggdragon

Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 10:24 AMRheumatoid Arthritis

Subject: New to RA

Hi, I'm Deborah,Can anyone tell me what kind of medicaton they are on? See I was dignosed with Perpheral Neruopathy, but now they tell me it's not most likely it's RA. I've been taking meds for Neruopathy for over 9 months now and I need to come down off them slowly. I was wondering if meds for RA are like the meds for PN? Hopeing they didn't make things worst for me.

[Guest guest]

Welcome to the board. I’m on

Methotrexate and Remicade and I would prefer to be on neither but I still

prefer them to the pain and joint damage that would occur if I stopped either

of them. The pain and joint damage come when our RA is either not treated

or undertreated. The side effects may or may not come, and if they come

almost all of them are reversible. Joint damage is never

reversible. The warning labels include all reported side effects

including some that may not be caused by the medications. Lymphoma is one

that scares a lot of people because early studies compared people taking the

medicines with the general public. Some later studies compare people with

RA who take the medicine and those with RA who do not. These studies show

that by taking the medicine fewer people get lymphoma. It seems that the

lymphoma comes with the disease and not with the treatment. However,

lymphoma is still reported as a side effect because people who take the

medication have reported getting lymphoma. I am 80years old and have only

had RA for 6 years. I hope you get your RA under control to avoid further

joint damage. God bless.

From: Rheumatoid Arthritis [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ] On Behalf Of dearhunterbebe

Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007

8:49 PM

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Subject:

[sPAM] new to RA

My name is Jo Nell (both go together) I am 60. I have been seeing a

rheumatologist for about 22 years. I have fibro, osteo, osteoporoses

and degenerative disc disease. This past December I was diagnosed with

RA. My doctor put me on 50 mg 1 per week injection I give myself. I

have had numerous infections. If I go odd enbrel I start hurting

really bad, but I am so scared of the side effects. I have decided I

have to stay on the Enbrel regardless of the risk. I had L 4 disc

surgery in Oct 06, then 5 weeks later had a car wreck and fractured my

L1 veterbra and had vertabroplasti on it. This may have brought on the

RA. My RA had not been checked in 2 yrs, I may have had it for a while.

In my blood work the normal range is 0 to 13. Mine was 2100. My doctor

said it couldnt get much worse.

I want to know if any of you are scared of the medication you are

taking.

Thanks for listning to me.

Jo Nell

[Guest guest]

Hi Jo Nell, This is Steph in VA. I'm 30 years old and I have had RA since 1999. I have been on a variety of meds but my current regimen is: Prednisone, Flexerill, Folic Acid, Ibuprofen, Methotrexate & Remicade. Like Harold, I know the risks of my meds. I think weighing the risks vs. benefits is a decision all RA patients must decide. I spent 7 months with the awful pain and high prednisone doses before I was on Remicade (I tried Enbrel for a few months but was unsuccessful). I'll take the risks knowing that quality of life is most important to me. Besides, if I get lymphoma I could just as easily blame my family history. Take care, Steph in VA My name is Jo Nell (both go together) I am 60. I have been seeing a rheumatologist for about 22 years. I have fibro, osteo, osteoporoses and degenerative disc disease. This past December I was diagnosed withRA. My doctor put me on 50 mg 1 per week injection I give myself. I have had numerous infections. If I go odd enbrel I start hurting really bad, but I am so scared of the side effects. I have decided I have to stay on the Enbrel regardless of the risk. I had L 4 disc surgery in Oct 06, then 5 weeks later had a car wreck and fractured my L1 veterbra and had vertabroplasti on it. This may have brought on the RA. My RA had not been checked

in 2 yrs, I may have had it for a while.In my blood work the normal range is 0 to 13. Mine was 2100. My doctor said it couldnt get much worse. I want to know if any of you are scared of the medication you are taking. Thanks for listning to me. Jo Nell .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 2007 Charlottesville Arthritis Walk was a success! We

raised just over $30,000 for research & programs for people with arthritis! "Never underestimate the power of a small, dedicated group of people to change the world -- indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." (Margaret Mead)

Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Mobile. Try it now.

[Guest guest]

How long have you been taking the meth and rem? and has sit really cut down on the pain and inflamation?--Leona, Lee,---- Harold Van Tuyl <hvantuyl@...> wrote:> Welcome to the board. I'm on Methotrexate and Remicade and I would prefer> to be on neither but I still prefer them to the pain and joint damage that> would occur if I stopped either of them. The pain and joint damage come> when our RA is either not treated or undertreated. The side effects may or> may not come, and if they come almost all of them are reversible. Joint> damage is never reversible. The warning labels include all reported side> effects including some that may not be caused by the medications. Lymphoma> is one that scares a lot of people because early studies compared people> taking the medicines with the general public. Some later studies compare> people with RA who take the medicine and those with RA who do not. These> studies show that by taking the medicine fewer people get lymphoma. It> seems that the lymphoma comes with the disease and not with the treatment.> However, lymphoma is still reported as a side effect because people who take> the medication have reported getting lymphoma. I am 80years old and have> only had RA for 6 years. I hope you get your RA under control to avoid> further joint damage. God bless.>>>>>>>>>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Steph, Your words of encouragememt was greatly appreciated. My husband or children understand what I am going through. My husband, Jerry, does help by vacuuming and other things thats so hard for me to do. I still love to deer hunt. I hunted today but didn't see anything. In one of my messages some one was going over all the meds they were taking, I take 19 different per day. I wish I could through them all into the garbage. I hope you feel better during the holidays. Happy Turkey Day Jo Nell DeNicola- <stephdenicola@...> wrote: Hi Jo Nell, This is Steph in VA. I'm 30 years old and I have had RA since 1999. I have been on a variety of meds but my current regimen is: Prednisone, Flexerill, Folic Acid, Ibuprofen, Methotrexate & Remicade. Like Harold, I know the risks of my meds. I think weighing the risks vs. benefits is a decision all RA patients must decide. I spent 7 months with the awful pain and high prednisone doses before I was on Remicade (I tried Enbrel for a few months but was unsuccessful). I'll take the risks knowing that quality of life is most important to me. Besides, if I get lymphoma I could just as easily blame my family history. Take care, Steph in VA My name is Jo Nell (both go together) I am 60. I have been seeing a rheumatologist for about 22 years. I have fibro, osteo, osteoporoses and degenerative disc disease. This past December I was diagnosed withRA. My doctor put me on 50 mg 1 per week injection I give myself. I have had numerous infections. If I go odd enbrel I start hurting really bad, but I am so scared of the side effects. I have decided I have to stay on the Enbrel regardless of the risk. I had L 4 disc surgery in Oct 06, then 5 weeks later had a car wreck and fractured my L1 veterbra and had vertabroplasti on it. This may have brought on the RA. My RA had not been checked in 2 yrs, I may have had it for a while.In my blood work the normal range is 0 to 13.

Mine was 2100. My doctor said it couldnt get much worse. I want to know if any of you are scared of the medication you are taking. Thanks for listning to me. Jo Nell . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 2007 Charlottesville Arthritis Walk was a success! We raised just over $30,000 for

research & programs for people with arthritis! "Never underestimate the power of a small, dedicated group of people to change the world -- indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." (Margaret Mead) Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Mobile. Try it now.

Be a better sports nut! Let your teams follow you with Mobile. Try it now.